Oscura seducción

Mild-mannered bachelor bank teller near London advertises for a Russian wife on the internet, and is disappointed when the young lady who shows up at the airport doesn't speak any English (she's a willing sport in bed, however); when two of her Russian buddies show up at his house, the man realizes he's been set up to rob his own bank, yet still feels a connection to this strange, sexy woman. Peculiar, darkly comic series of confusions, double crosses, bedroom fetishes (and ants!) written by the team of Tom and Jez Butterworth (Jez also directed, while Steve Butterworth produced). It was obviously a labor of love for the group, and they could not have found better leads than Nicole Kidman and handsome Ben Chaplin, both excellent in their roles. Still, the script disappoints--it's all over the map--and by the third act we've lost something intrinsic in the characters. Chaplin (who amusingly resembles both Joaquin Phoenix and Steve Carrell) is never humiliated on-screen (he's treated badly but always rebounds and looks after himself); still, the man's anger is released in odd ways (too much slapping) and we never understand his attachment to Kidman's Russian vixen. Is this an emotional connection or is it purely physical? Well-made movie has some fine, prickly moments (mostly in the first hour). It loses itself in its circular twists, swallowing its tail in the bargain, however the film is still a decent attempt at something different. ** from ****